drodio
Entrepreneur & Lifehacker
Trying to decide whether I should put an Eaton Detroit TrueTrac limited slip differential on my 2003 Ford F250 diesel, or an ARB locking differential.
I plan on putting a pop-up camper in the bed of the truck and hitting some trails; probably at a max difficulty rating of 5 or 6. No crazy offroading, but want to be able to get in & out of remote beach locations in foreign countries, etc.
I'd start with the rear diff; possibly doing both front and rear at the same time.
Here are the pro's & con's as I see them -- anyone have any other suggestions?
TrueTrac:
ARB Air Locker:
I'm leaning towards the TrueTrac as it seems to be more passive w/ less that could go wrong. I am, however, planning on installing an on-board compressor regardless, and I like the idea of having fully locked axles for the most challenging situations... but at half the price and apparently able to handle 90% to 95% of the situations I might find myself in, I'm thinking TrueTrac is the way to go. Anyone have an opinion on this assessment?
Here are notes from my research about the TrueTrac
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[FONT=georgia,serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uwpNpvsshQ (it looks fromt this one like you sometimes may have to apply the brakes a bit to get both tires to turn)[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia,serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZFVKFyOgqY[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia,serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fTYlGayCbk[/FONT]
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"The Truetrac is useless in the rocks and if you have one tire off the ground forget it. With an ARB you get the beefy case and the choice of an open diff for street driving and a full locker when you need it." [FONT=georgia,serif] from http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/529960-detroit-truetrac-what-dya-think.html ... also from that thread "I've had True Tracs and a light tap of the brake or couple clicks on the e-brake are usually enough to get both tires turning, even with one off the ground. The True Trac also beefs up the differential (case). I've run most Southern California trails with True Tracs front and rear (in a Jeep) and made all but the top 5% or so of the trails with relative ease. I did have to tap the brakes from time to time, so it's pretty nice for all but the most extreme situations. You also can't tell it's in the front diff because there are no clutch packs "grabbing", it's much smoother than most other "clutch" based limited slips." ... as well as ... "If I'm heading down a dry waterfall with one front tire hanging 4 feet in the air the last thing I want to be doing is tapping my brakes to "fool" the Truetrac into giving me power to the opposing wheel. Sounds like a recipe for a nose over. Now this is my rock crawler I'm refering to here, not the tow rig. I think LS and the like are good for street [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]trucks[/FONT][/FONT] if I'm crawling through 4-5 foot rocks I want lockers. But now that I've been using the ARB I can't see using anything else."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]"the feedback that I have received from customers indicates that the unit works very well for mud and snow, while going unnoticed during every day driving. When used in situations like rocky trails where one wheel gets off the ground, the unit will not lock up 100%. Light application of the brakes will help the differential engage more transferring power to the tire that is still on the ground. For extreme situations where the vehicle will have one wheel in the air often a locking differential provides better power transfer to the wheel on the ground. " from http://www.offroaders.com/reviewbox/showproduct.php?product=252[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]"Traction is so good fellow club members don't believe I'm running LSDs and not lockers." from http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f249/detroit-truetrac-771841/ also "I have True-trac's front (D44) and rear (D60) in my TJ. Great traction. I thought I might regret not putting a locker in the rear but the True-trac has proven me wrong."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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I plan on putting a pop-up camper in the bed of the truck and hitting some trails; probably at a max difficulty rating of 5 or 6. No crazy offroading, but want to be able to get in & out of remote beach locations in foreign countries, etc.
I'd start with the rear diff; possibly doing both front and rear at the same time.
Here are the pro's & con's as I see them -- anyone have any other suggestions?
TrueTrac:
- Passive limited slip, nothing to maintain or engage/disengage
- Brakes may need to be applied to engage differential in some situations
- Does not fully lock axle... possibly easier on the drivetrain
- Costs around $500
ARB Air Locker:
- Fully locks the axle so power is always transferred to both wheels, even if one is off the ground
- Has to be manually locked/unlocked
- Requires on-board air compressor
- Costs around $1k
I'm leaning towards the TrueTrac as it seems to be more passive w/ less that could go wrong. I am, however, planning on installing an on-board compressor regardless, and I like the idea of having fully locked axles for the most challenging situations... but at half the price and apparently able to handle 90% to 95% of the situations I might find myself in, I'm thinking TrueTrac is the way to go. Anyone have an opinion on this assessment?
Here are notes from my research about the TrueTrac
=================
[FONT=georgia,serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia,serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uwpNpvsshQ (it looks fromt this one like you sometimes may have to apply the brakes a bit to get both tires to turn)[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia,serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZFVKFyOgqY[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia,serif]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fTYlGayCbk[/FONT]
[FONT=georgia,serif]
[/FONT]
"The Truetrac is useless in the rocks and if you have one tire off the ground forget it. With an ARB you get the beefy case and the choice of an open diff for street driving and a full locker when you need it." [FONT=georgia,serif] from http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/529960-detroit-truetrac-what-dya-think.html ... also from that thread "I've had True Tracs and a light tap of the brake or couple clicks on the e-brake are usually enough to get both tires turning, even with one off the ground. The True Trac also beefs up the differential (case). I've run most Southern California trails with True Tracs front and rear (in a Jeep) and made all but the top 5% or so of the trails with relative ease. I did have to tap the brakes from time to time, so it's pretty nice for all but the most extreme situations. You also can't tell it's in the front diff because there are no clutch packs "grabbing", it's much smoother than most other "clutch" based limited slips." ... as well as ... "If I'm heading down a dry waterfall with one front tire hanging 4 feet in the air the last thing I want to be doing is tapping my brakes to "fool" the Truetrac into giving me power to the opposing wheel. Sounds like a recipe for a nose over. Now this is my rock crawler I'm refering to here, not the tow rig. I think LS and the like are good for street [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]trucks[/FONT][/FONT] if I'm crawling through 4-5 foot rocks I want lockers. But now that I've been using the ARB I can't see using anything else."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]"the feedback that I have received from customers indicates that the unit works very well for mud and snow, while going unnoticed during every day driving. When used in situations like rocky trails where one wheel gets off the ground, the unit will not lock up 100%. Light application of the brakes will help the differential engage more transferring power to the tire that is still on the ground. For extreme situations where the vehicle will have one wheel in the air often a locking differential provides better power transfer to the wheel on the ground. " from http://www.offroaders.com/reviewbox/showproduct.php?product=252[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]"Traction is so good fellow club members don't believe I'm running LSDs and not lockers." from http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f249/detroit-truetrac-771841/ also "I have True-trac's front (D44) and rear (D60) in my TJ. Great traction. I thought I might regret not putting a locker in the rear but the True-trac has proven me wrong."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]